Home » Hanafi Fiqh » Askimam.org » Meaning of the Muqatta’at letters

Meaning of the Muqatta’at letters

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Askimam.org

Assalamu aleikum wa rahamatuallah wa barakatuhu. Insha’Allah, there is a simple and obvious solution for the Muqatta’at letters. In the Zabur of Dawud (Psalms) there is a chapter (Psalms 119), which is the longest chapter in Psalms. Each section of Psalms 119 begins with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and is followed by text. – For a Psalms 119 text with facing Hebrew/English translation: http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26b9.htm – There are Hebrew equivalents in Psalms 119 for all the Muqatta’at letters, and Psalms 119 text using Hebrew equivalents for Alif Lam Mim (Hebrew: ALEPH, LAMED, MEM) *ALL* order the Yahudis to follow the Law of Allah (S.W.T.). The placement of these particular letters at the beginning of Surah al-Baqarah would therefore be highly appropriate, as Surah al-Baqarah details much of the law that Rasulullah (S.A.W.) was ordered by Allah (S.W.T.) to bring. The text following Psalms 119 letters seems to relate to the text of each surah in the Holy Qur’an that is preceded by a corresponding Arabic letter. Note: A brief description of the letter organization of Psalms 119 follows is at: http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm119.htm#foot1 May Allah (S.W.T.) bless you and reward you in this world and the next for all your efforts for the deen of Islam. JazakAllahair.

Answer

Firstly, the Zaboor ( Psalms) was given to Dawood AS ( David pbuh) some 1000 years before Isa AS ( Jesus pbuh). This revelation given to Dawood AS even predated many other books of the Old Testament eg. Isaiah, and Eizekiel)

Recent issues surrounding the Dead Sea scrolls questions the authenticity of the Book of Isaiah. Since the Book of Psalms predates the Book of Isaiah by some 300 years in the first instance we are not sure that the Book of Psalms as is the same as the Zaboor given to Dawood AS hence any comparison with the Book of Psalms and the Quran would be unequal as the Quran is the only Revealed Book to have remained pure in text as it was revealed and in its original language.

Secondly, the Quran is indeed a quintessential of all previous revelations and is ? the Guardian? of all previous revelations, and as a general rule, there would be some things in the Old and New Testament that may concur with the Quran as not everything in the present Bible is unauthentic.

Based on the above, yes there is Alif , Laam and Meem in the Book of Psalms 119 in the original Hebrew. However, the subject matter of the book of Psalms is not the same as implied in the question sent.

Conclusion : The fact that Alif, Laam and Meem appear in Psalms 119 in Hebrew does point to the authenticity of the Quran as a quintessential of all previous revelations. It does not however, imply that all that is in Psalms 119 is similar to the Quran.

Shukran

Rafeek Hassen
DIRECTOR: IPCI

CHECKED & APPROVED: Mufti Ebrahim Desai

Original Source Link

This answer was collected from Askimam.org, which is operated under the supervision of Mufti Ebrahim Desai from South Africa.

Read answers with similar topics: